BRAZIL: São Paulo state governor Tarcísio de Freitas confirmed on October 7 that the bidding auction for ‘Expreso TIC’ services over the 101 km route between São Paulo and Campinas will be held on February 29 2024. This follows agreement by the National Bank for Economic & Social Development to provide R$6∙4bn towards the cost of launching the service.
The state government also announced that the estimated cost of the scheme had risen from R$10∙2bn to R$13∙5bn, with the state contributing R$8∙5bn instead of R$6bn as proposed earlier.
Payments to be made by the state government over the 30-year life of the concession have been reduced from R$400m to around R$250m, as envisaged in the previous bidding round which was delayed because of criticism of the project and its timescale from potential bidders.
Among other changes is that São Paulo state will guarantee 90% of the estimated revenue from the TIC service. Should fares revenue be higher than an expected threshold, provision will be made for profits to be shared between the state and the operator.
Potential concessionaires may be given the option to introduce faster services than those proposed; the requirement is to link Barra Funda with Campinas in a timing of 1 h 4 min with trains not exceeding 140 km/h. Faster services would be conditional on the cost not exceeding 20% of the estimated contract value.
Other changes have been made because of legal, technical and financial complexities. For example, it is understood that there will no longer be a requirement to include a service to Viracopos (Campinas) airport or to provide for a service to Americana. The concessionaire may on the other hand be expected to make investments at Água Branca to accommodate services on São Paulo’s busy Line 9 (Esmeralda) and Line 8 (Diamante) suburban routes.
Train capacity has been set at a minimum of 800 passengers, and forecast demand for 2040 is 12 million passengers a year. The São Paulo – Campinas fare on TIC trains has been set at a maximum of R$64.
In addition to the São Paulo – Campinas inter-city service, which will call at Jundiaí, the concessionaire will be required to operate an ‘Intermetropolitano TIM’ service over the 44 km between Jundiaí and Campinas with stops at Louveira, Vinhedo and Valinhos, plus a suburban service on CPTM’s 57 km Line 7 (Rubi) route connecting Barra Funda and Jundíai. A fleet of 30 trains for this service will be transferred to the future concessionaire.
Among organisations reported to have expressed interest in the project is a Chinese group, representatives of which visited São Paulo earlier this year during a trade mission.
